Merrill Brokerage Team Leaves to Set Up Independent Shop

By Lisa Beilfuss

A team of brokers managing about $1 billion in client assets has left Merrill Lynch, the latest sign financial advisers and assets continue to move from Wall Street firms to the ranks of independent advisers.

Kelly Bouchillon, Melissa Bouchillon, Emerson Ham and Edward Ambrose have left Merrill Lynch, the brokerage arm of Bank of America Corp., to launch Sound View Wealth Advisors, an independent wealth-management firm based in Savannah, Ga., the group said Monday. The team said most of their clients are high net worth families who receive services such as estate planning, in addition to investment management.

Merrill Lynch manages about $2.31 trillion in client money. A spokeswoman declined to comment.

The departures from Merrill are yet another sign the independent advisory industry is growing at the expense of traditional brokerages. Research firm Cerulli Associates estimates that by 2020 independent advisers will control more assets than Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, UBS Group AG and other major brokerages combined.

The departing Merrill brokers said their move was prompted by a desire to offer clients a broader array of financial planning services and investment products without also needing to cross-sell products offered by the bank. Late last year, Merrill Lynch unveiled changes to its adviser compensation package that more closely tied pay to referrals of wealth-management clients to other parts of Bank of America.

Under the plan, advisers could earn up to an extra 2% in pay if they hit certain growth targets. But to access the new award program, advisers have to refer at least two customers to other parts of the bank. Going independent without a bank affiliation, lifts pressure to pitch products such as mortgages and credit cards, said Mr. Hamm.

The Merrill advisers' new firm, Sound View, is part of the Focus Financial Partners network, which helps financial advisers break away from Wall Street firms by offering access to capital, technology and other services.

Write to Lisa Beilfuss at lisa.beilfuss@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 26, 2018 12:58 ET (16:58 GMT)

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024